


The air that we breathe

by myowncreation



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gang World, Betrayal, Bittersweet Ending, Bottom Kim Jongdae | Chen, CEO Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Closeted Character, Drug Use, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Smut, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mark is Xiumin's son, Minor Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Minor Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai, One Night Stands, Past Kim Minseok | Xiumin/Lu Han, Slow Romance, Top Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Undercover, police officer Kim Jongdae | Chen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-05-27 07:00:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15019214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myowncreation/pseuds/myowncreation
Summary: When Chen is assigned to go undercover in Kim Enterprise, a company known for its illegal trades to gather information, he knows that something will go wrong.Mistakes and mistakes build up until Chen has no option but to choose between his friends and family or the man he ends owing everything to.His first mistake starts when he ends up sleeping with his new boss.





	1. Chapter 1

Chen

 

“There’s got to be something behind this, don’t you think?”

Chen wasn’t listening to what the other man had to say. Well, he was listening but he wasn’t paying attention. It was the station’s sixth meeting about the matter and honestly, Chen was growing tired of it. He knew everything there was needed to know about the case, he didn’t understand why he had to keep attending these meetings. It was pointless anyway, there weren’t going to catch the people behind the case.

Sighing as the other members of his team continued to talk, Chen tried to block their voices out. He was hoping to get out of the station early so he could go somewhere. Perhaps a bar or a club where he could drink himself to the near state of unconsciousness and tumblehome. It was something he liked to do when the cases were becoming too much.

“Kim Jongdae, for god’s sake, can you pay attention for two seconds?”

Chen flinched at the chief’s frustrated tone and turned to face him, offering him a small smile. Baekhyun, sitting next to him choked on a small laugh and looked away, biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing out loud. The younger man wearing a dark hoodie unlike the others sitting around the table, looking smaller and much younger than he actually was.

“Anyways,” the chief said, sending a glare that shut Baekhyun up. “We got a call from the Gangnam-gu’s men, the case is still going.”

Chen perched upon his sit on that, listening intently on what the chief had to say.

“We agreed that two officers will be chosen from the two stations and will be sent undercover into Kim Enterprise as new recruits.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened as he turned back to look at Chen, excitement fairly visible in his face. Chen knew what the smaller man was thinking without even having to ask. He was thinking about the case, about whether the officer who was going undercover was him. Baekhyun would love that, like how he loved every little thing that brought excitement to his boring life but what he kept forgetting was that in order to go undercover, there was a certain set of skills needed that Baekhyun, unfortunately, didn’t have. The last thing Baekhyun could do was to go undercover, that was why he was always given the desk job, unlike others.

The chief continued talking, his voice echoing through the small conference room. “Kim Enterprise is holding a hiring fair where they interview up to fifty people but only end up hiring a dozen. This is a perfect opportunity to get someone within the company to help us out.”

Seungchul, a new member of their small family put his hand up, afraid to interrupt the chief.

“Yes, Seungchul?”

Smiling like a kid, Seungchul spoke, his voice deep yet quiet in the room. “Even if we send someone undercover in there, what are the chances that they’re going to hear something? If Kim’s company is really behind all these shipments and trades then that means they take extra measures to make sure no ones on their trail; how would sending someone undercover really work?”

Chen stayed quiet, watching the chief for a reaction, waiting for him to lash out on Seungchul for questioning his methods like how he did with everyone else. The man in charge of their station wasn’t known for his patience. Instead, he was known for someone who took pleasure in yelling and ruining people’s day; but nonetheless, the team loved him. Chief just nodded in agreement instead of lashing out like always. His lips were pulled into a small smile rather than the usual scowl that he wore. The look in his eyes as he watched the station’s youngest member was something Chen could only describe as ‘fatherly love’. Chen had noticed how calmly and in a way, lovingly, the chief would act towards Seungchul throughout the station; it was unsettling to see it sometimes.

“I do see what you mean but this is the only lead we have to the case. Kim’s company has something to do with this; I’m sure of it but we just don’t know how much. They might be totally behind the illegal trades or they might just provide protection for however that’s really behind it,” he shrugged his shoulders. “Who really knows? All I know right now is that Kim’s company is a start and it might just lead us somewhere so we’re taking it.”

Chen glanced around the wooden table placed in the middle of the conference room. Sitting around the table, were the people he considered family. Whether he liked it or not, one of these people was going to go undercover in Kim Enterprise in the next week or so and there was nothing he could do about it. The people sitting around the table were his family and one of them could be in danger by next week. Glancing to his right, he was met by the fluffy, bleached blond hair of Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun, Baekkie, was his longest friend at the station. They had met each other on Chen’s first day at work when he had wandered the grey, plain halls of Seocho-gu police department, trying to find the bathroom. Upon that day, they had instantly become friends, Baekhyun’s playful personality clicking instantly with Chen’s. There was Jisoo who sat right next to Baekhyun, her long dark hair pulled in a low knot at the base of her neck. She had been introduced to the team as investigation officer a year after Chen and had won the hearts of the team in her first day. Sitting in front of her was Alex, also known as Boo Jaemin, the mastermind in their little team. Chen was introduced to Alex when he had to spend a week with him in Incheon, monitoring a school teacher who had later turned out to be the drug dealer they had searched the entire city for. And lastly, sitting next to Jaemin was Bae Seung soo, the mother of the group in so many ways. She was the eldest member in their team, even older than the chief himself. She was a tiny thing, tinier than Baekhyun who basically reminded him of a kid. Seung soo was a legend among the Seoul departments and the sub-departments scattered around the city. She never failed a mission she was sent on despite her old age being a disadvantage to her.

Chen just couldn’t get over the fact that one of his family members was going undercover for a stupid case. Their department did deal with many undercover cases but nothing more than a day or two worth of acting and spying. What the chief was suggesting was not only stupid but risky because if by any chance they were right, they were dealing with one of the biggest illegal trading companies of south Asia. If they were right then this case was not a job for only two people. There were so many risks to the whole mission that Chen was surprised that they had even gotten the thumbs up from the higher-ups.

Jisoo looked around the table, her dark eyes locking to Chen’s for a second before she looked back at the chief. “I do get that this is an important case and we have no other choice to do this but who, out of all of us is qualified enough to take on Kim Enterprise. We’re all police officers,” she turned to Seung soo with a small smile. “No offense, but we’re not spies. We know how to go undercover for a few days but not for the period of time needed for us to get something that might be useful for this case.”

Chen decided it was the right time for him to speak for the first time during their meeting. Scooting his chair forward so he could lean slightly across the table and catch the chief's attention. “I agree with Jisoo on this one sir. Although the hiring fare sounds good, we can’t guarantee that we’ll be picked as the new associates. We can’t bet everything on the fact that we might be picked out of 50 other people.”

Seung soo’s warm eyes ran over everyone before she started to speak as well. “We really don’t have a choice. If the higher ops want something that we have to do it, period. You all keep forgetting that we are a branch of Seoul department; we only manage a district, nothing else. If we get an order from upstairs, we can’t deny it no matter how idiotic it might be.”

The chief nodded along as if Seung Soo had taken the words straight out of his mouth. “We can’t do anything but to obey orders or they’ll give this case to another team. The whole plan might look risky but there are precautions to the whole thing. We just need the two officers to get inside and listen in on some of the conversations within the company. If Kim is really behind all this then he will eventually slip up and we’ll be there when he does.” Standing up, he pushed the folder in front of him to the middle of the desk. “I’ve already chosen who out of this team is going undercover so no need to fight over it.”

Curiosity took over Chen and he leaned forward in his sit, trying to peak into the folder.

Baekhyun beat him to it when he stood up and reached for the folder.

There was a moment of silence as Baekhyun peeked into the folder and then all hell broke loose.

Baekhyun let out a high pitched “what?” and threw the folder onto the table.

Jisoo and Seungchul both leaned forward across the table, their eyes widening as they both turned to look at Chen at the same time.

Chen knew there was something wrong as everyone around the table turned to look at him.

Hesitantly, he reached for the green folder and drew it towards him, his eyes falling on the profile within it. There it was, his name and his description on the paper along with a photo that he had taken for the department’s keycard. “I-I don’t get it.” He turned his gaze to the chief, asking for an explanation of some sort because surely the chief had made a mistake. “This is a mistake, right? Please tell me that this is a mistake and that you have someone else in mind for the job.”

The chief shook his head, watching him for a reaction.

Chen’s hand shook as he ran it through his hair. Going undercover wasn’t a new thing for him, he had done many undercover jobs here and there but this one scared him. This undercover job made him want to almost throw up. The silence in the room was thickening, everyone watching him and waiting for him to say something.

Chen felt like he was placed under a spotlight, his mouth suddenly very dry. He couldn’t speak, his tongue feeling heavy in his mouth, forbidding any words to come out of him. His eyes were focused on the profile yet again, scanning through the paper, looking for something that would tell him that this was a joke.

Deciding to break the silence, the chief cleared his throat and reached for the green folder, taking Chen’s only source of knowledge about the situation away from him. “You’re the only person who matched the skill set that we need for this mission. I know it might be a little overwhelming for you at this moment but it will get better.”

Chen let out a dry laugh at that, slumping back into his seat. “You’re making it sound like this is my first mission, it’s not.”

The sharpness in his voice made the chief’s soft smile disappear.

The older man glared at him, his temper finally rising for the first time during their meeting. “Then stop acting like it is. You’re a trained officer and possess skills that are needed in this mission so stop acting like a kid and grow a fucking pair.”

There was a moment of silence again. 

To say that Chen was pissed off was an understatement, he was furious with the chief’s choice of words. He kept quiet as he stared the older man down, his eyes narrowed. He knew that he couldn’t really say anything in return to the chief but that didn’t really stop him from glaring at him. Seung Soo had probably chosen the best time to interfere.

Standing up so she could be noticed by the two men despite her small height, she cleared her throat. “What Yeechan is trying to say and failing horribly at it,” she sent the chief a burning glare. “Is that, you need to understand that we don’t have a choice, Jongdae. Our department needs this mission to go out smoothly or we’ll probably lose our reputation and with it the respect of Seoul’s chief and the mayor who is also counting on us. I know that it might seem scary and believe me, it is as scary as it sounds but you can do this. I believe in you, Jongdae; and so does Yeechan because otherwise he wouldn’t have chose you to go under.”

The anger still remained in Chen’s veins, his fists aching to connect with something, probably the chief's face if he was lucky but he remained seated in his sit, Seung Soo’s words repeating themselves in his brain. Everything she had said was correct in one way or another, he couldn’t really argue with them. But that still didn’t stop him from hating the plan and everything about it. It was a stupid plan and anyone with a single brain cell could clearly see it. The question wasn’t if Chen was scared because honestly, he was; the question was that was Chen willing to potentially risk his life to gather information for this case or not?

He could again feel the entire group’s eyes on him, waiting for him to speak. But that was the last thing Chen could honestly do at that moment. Between wanting to throw up his lunch and curl up into a ball in the corner of the room, talking was the last thing Chen really wanted to do.

Instead, he got up from his seat, his hand reaching for the green folder. “I need to go.”

His words were soft, barely a whisper through the room but he knew that they had heard him. He could see it in their eyes, in the way Baekhyun tried to stand up to follow him, in the way Jisoo glared at the chief, her dark eyes narrowed.

He quickly made his way out of their small conference room, the green folder that held his doom, tightly grasped between his fingers. He kept walking, his mind numb to the world around him as he walked out of the station, not bothering to say goodnight to Jaehyun and Hyunjin sitting at the reception desk.

He felt like he couldn’t breathe, the world seemed too small for him, the air nonexistent for him to inhale. He didn’t know where he was going, his legs were taking him somewhere he had yet to find out. He didn’t really care where he ended up, he just needed to breathe.

In a way, it could’ve been seen that he was overreacting but he really didn’t care. It was true that his line of work was risky but there was a voice at the back of his head that told him this job might perhaps be the riskiest. Chen wasn’t the type to get scared easily, he was usually the one who pranked and trolled the others; so why did he find himself feeling terrified at the idea of going undercover for this case? He had seven years of experience, seven years of training, working, and learning how to deal with situations like these so why was he scared?

After what felt like hours of walking but might have been just minutes, he stopped when he got to a small bar on one the less busy streets of Gwanak-gu.

He knew of the existence of the bar when Baekhyun had brought him here a few years ago. The younger had no idea that Chen would end up spending some of his Friday nights including tonight when he had introduced him to the bar.

The small neon logo lit up the sidewalk that Chen was standing on. The anger he was feeling only a minutes ago was gone, leaving him empty and cold.

He knew that going home wasn’t exactly an option; Baekhyun would be there the moment he left the station, the younger demanding to know whether he was okay or not. Usually, he would be all up for the idea of hanging out with Baekhyun, he was one of Chen’s closest friends but tonight was not the night he wanted to spend laughing or drinking his ass off with the younger.

His fingers subconsciously tightened around the green folder, his eyes not leaving the neon logo. He could almost taste the alcohol on his mouth, hear the quiet jazz music in the background as people talked and laughed their way into the night.

He didn’t want to go home yet; going home meant that he had to deal with everything that had happened today. Going home meant that the chief's words were true and frankly, Chen didn’t want to deal with that at the moment. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and tried to push the remaining anger away from his mind. A few seconds later, his eyes opened up, his mind now completely devoid of any emotion.

With a last glance towards the bar’s neon logo, Chen started walking, ready to drown his sorrows in alcohol.


	2. Chapter 2

Xiumin

 

“We’ve got guns imported from both Taiwan and China; they’re ready to be used about any day now.” 

Xiumin snorted at the comment and turned his face away from the computer screen, pretending to focus on something else. The skype call with his adviser was giving him nothing but a headache but he still kept a calming expression on his face, making the man on the other side of the screen think that he was still listening to him.

“We have offers from all over Korea and Japan; security companies and all that jazz looking for the newest model on the market. We even got a few offers from American companies; although, transportation might be a little risky…” 

The man kept talking but Xiumin was too bored to pay attention. After the skype call, he had another meeting to attend before he got to go home. And then he could finally have some time to himself. Maybe he could drink until he passed out, or maybe he could call Yixing over and they could finish the leftover cocaine from Saturday’s party, he had no clue. All he knew was that he needed to be under the influence of something to be able to have a clear mind. Running a company wasn’t an easy thing, especially when that company did illegal trades all over Asia.

Sighing, he leaned further into his seat and tapped his foot, waiting for the young man on the screen to stop talking.

“And that’s it, sir. The rest of the shipments are coming in next week and then we can start putting them out on the market.”

“Thank you, Kim. Keep track of the records, especially of the shipment coming in from Busan; I don’t trust Sakura’s men not to make a mess. Anything else you want to add?”

Kim Junmyeon or as the rest of his staff liked to call him, Suho, shook his head and fixed the glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose. “No, sir. I will let you if there is any new update on the deal with Busan.”

Xiumin offered him a small smile. “Then that’s the end of our meeting Kim, have a good night.”

He quickly ended the call before the other man could reply and slumped back into his seat. Despite being the best adviser Xiumin had ever had, Suho had his downsides. Like the fact that he would literally never stop talking. At first, when Xiumin had employed him, he was going to point that out but stopped himself from doing so because he wanted the younger man to be able to perform to his full ability. He was regretting that now.

Glancing at his watch, he groaned again. Thirty minutes before his last meeting of the day. He could’ve used that little bit of cocaine just about now… Shaking his head at the thought, he focused on the documents sitting before him on the desk and decided to go through them before the next meeting start. 

As he flipped through the pages, he found that there was nothing interesting. It was the same shit as always with financial counts of both his legal activities and his illegal ones. He kept track of them, making sure that he missed nothing even if his adviser and his right-hand man went through everything. It was something he felt like he had to do; not that he didn’t trust his staff but he wanted to be aware of every little thing that went on in his company. He trusted his men but he also needed to know every little thing in case something went wrong. 

Sighing, he flipped to another page that gave him a chart full of numbers. Scanning the table, he was about to turn to the next page when something caught his eye. Looking closely, he sighed again. This couldn’t be happening now.

Reaching to the intercom panel next to his desk, he pressed a button and waited for the other side to answer. A second later, a face appeared on the small screen.   
“My office, now.” Without saying a word, the man on the other side of the screen nodded and the screen went black again.

He turned his attention back to the packet of documents sitting before him and started flipping through the pages. The numbers, he assumed, were done correctly because it went through a dozen accountants with brains like calculators. Hopefully, none of the calculations were wrong because he hated having to punish the people who worked for him. 

The door to his office opened revealing his right-hand man. With his black hair slicked back from his face, his lips pulled into a tight line, and his hands folded behind his back. Kai was much taller than him, giving off a frightening aura that scared most men away; but Xiumin knew that deep inside, Kai was nothing but a softy who would stop in the middle of the street just to pet a dog.

Gesturing with his hand, Xiumin beckoned Kai, motioning him to walk around the desk and to come to where he was sitting. Staying quiet, Kai obeyed the wordless order and found himself standing next to Xiumin, staring at the papers scattered across the desk.

Xiumin looked up at him, his eyes watching Kai as he read over the records and the reports. “Do you know why I called you here?”

“I guess it has something to do with the reports from last week,” the taller man replied softly.

Xiumin clapped his hands and grinned at him. “Exactly, when did you become so smart?”

Kai’s face remained emotionless, something Xiumin never understood how people could do but he rolled his eyes. “You never give me enough credit, Soek.”

Xiumin clicked his tongue at their playful banter. “Have you had time to read through the reports yet?”

Kai shook his head, stuffing his hands into the pocket of his slacks. “I just got back from Daegu. I was planning to read it for tonight before reporting to you tomorrow.”

Xiumin scanned the page in front of him briefly before looking up at the taller man. “I know that you haven’t had the chance to read through it but tell me, my trusted right hand, what is wrong with the reports in front of you?”

The taller man’s brows furrowed as he leaned forward and scanned the papers scattered on the desk. It took him less than a minute to read through the page and that was all the time he needed before he straightened and sighed. 

“Yes?” Xiumin folded his hands on his lap, studying the other man.

“The shipment from Incheon is much later than it usually is. It can go unnoticed by the board since there so many shipments from China and Taiwan but this shipment is more important than the others.” 

Xiumin nodded, smiling fondly at the taller man. “And why is that, my dear?”

Kai’s brows furrowed at the nickname yet he continued talking. “It's the shipment from North. It’s sent to China disguised under a contract for a security company than it’s shipped to Incheon from Dalian.”

Xiumin gave him an appreciative nod. “Correct, so you do read all the reports.” Kai’s lips curled up at the comment. “This shipment is more crucial than the entire crate coming from Japan; we need the material coming in from the North. I need you to deal with this one Kai, I can’t be looking over everything. If I hadn’t gone through the reports, this would’ve gone unnoticed, causing the company not only millions of won but time.” The shorter man pushed his chair away from the desk and spun to face Kai. “Time is the most important thing for this company. We use it to get the things we want and we can’t waste it.”

Kai nodded, looking at the reports once again. “Do you think Jeong had anything to do with the delay?”

Xiumin hummed at the question and turned to the window behind his desk, looking out over the majority of Seocho-gu. “I wouldn’t put it behind him, to be honest. Jeong is a sneaky man but he’s also smart, that’s why I chose him to work for me. You know why I placed him in Incheon, though?”

“You want to watch him closely without threatening his power.”

“Exactly. Men are very sensitive about their egos and well, Jeong is a man. I need to give him enough space so he could establish his own hold and gather his own people. He’s smart, smart enough to know that going against me and betraying me will not end up well for him but he’s also a scheming son of a bitch.” 

Kai’s lips curled upward at the edges. Xiumin guessed the reason why his right-hand man was showing somewhat of an emotion was that he had just cursed. He wasn’t a man who found pleasure in insulting people; he found pleasure in other things, like watching men having their pride ripped away from them.

He continued on. “I don’t trust Jeong yet I gave him the job to look after one of the biggest Ports of this country. His mindset and his brain is something that is greatly needed in this company so that’s why he’s still alive today. I trust you to look after him and keep him in line, I can’t have him rebelling against me now, can I?”

The taller man shook his head. 

Xiumin turned from the window and looked at him. “I want an explanation for this matter as soon as possible. Do whatever you want with him, beat him, torture him, torture family members; it doesn’t really matter, just give me something as soon as you can. Take Tae with you as well, you two seem to be a well-functioning team.”  
Kai nodded, his expression once again emotionless. Lowering his head to the smaller man in a sign of respect, he made his way out of Xiumin’s office. 

Sighing, Xiumin leaned back in his seat again. He trusted Kai enough to know that the taller man was probably on his phone with his partner Tae right now, making a plan about what to do. He also knew that Kai would give him something by sometime tomorrow. There was a reason why the man was known as Xiumin’s right-hand man within the company; he liked taking care of messes and silencing people and well, in Xiumin’s line of work, many people need to be taken care of or silenced. 

Looking down at his watch, he almost sighed out of relief. There were only ten more minutes before his meeting started. And only an hour before he got to go home and relax. Well, relax wasn’t the word he would use in the matter because Xiumin barely could relax anymore. There were too many things that needed his attention, too many paperwork, too many meetings, too many shipments. He was running a company, after all; he needed to be aware of everything so something like the matter with the shipment coming from Incheon wouldn’t happen again. All he wanted was to go back to his apartment, get out of the stupid suite he was wearing and just lie across his bed. He didn’t even want to sleep anymore, no. Sleeping was for people who were free of thoughts and ideas, Xiumin wasn’t. He had spent many nights lying across his bed, staring up the ceiling or watching the cars drive past his building. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to sleep, no he wanted that; it was more like his brain was too active to let him rest. He had tried using sleeping pills but found himself hating the numbness they brought with them. Sometimes, he took to drugs and alcohol, letting the substances numb both his body and mind. 

Maybe tonight was one of those nights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter!!  
> I kinda like this one more because I found easier to write in Xiumin's POV.  
> Enjoy!!
> 
> -AXA


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chen and Xiumin meet in a bar and Chen ends up getting very drunk.

 

**Xiumin**

 

Xiumin had no clue how he ended up in the small, quiet bar, in the outskirts of Gwanak-gu; yet there he was, drinking cheap whiskey and thinking about his choices in life. Not that he wasn’t doing that enough lately but sometimes he felt like he had to stop himself and think about what he was doing in life. 

He had decided to take a walk after his meeting was finished and somehow he had found himself in the small bar. He never liked drinking at the bar due to all the noise yet somehow, this bar was different. It was less noisy than the ones Yixing took him to when he was back in Korea. The Chinese man might have been quiet but he had liked to loud places and people.

The soft jazz music in the background blended well with the voices of others talking, making Xiumin feel relaxed. Well, somewhat relaxed. Running one of the largest illegal businesses in Korea made Xiumin unable to relax no matter how hard he tried.

He took another sip of his drink, letting the whiskey burn its way down his throat as he tried to clear his mind. There were so many meetings he had to attend, too many people who wanted his attention that sometimes Xiumin wondered how he was still sane. Running the company on itself was a pain but adding the difficulties that came with running his “business” made it unbearable. There were times when he would voice his issue to Jongin and Junmyeon but both his right-hand man and his adviser would reply with the fact that it made good money. Xiumin was aware of that, he was aware of how fucking loaded his bank account was because no matter how many things he kept buying it never managed to make a dent in the numbers. Last year, one of the magazines that Junmyeon obsessively read named him the fifth richest man in Korea, not that he really cared.

Money really didn’t matter to him anymore. There was a point in his life when he dreamed of reaching where he was now but now that he had reached it, Xiumin found himself not wanting it. He hated it half the times. He hated how quiet his apartment was whenever he managed to go home. He hated how eager people were to please him and befriend him. They weren’t really doing it for him but his money and that irked him. He hated how men and women threw themselves at him at the balls and galas he attended. He hated how he couldn’t get a moment of quiet to himself where he did nothing but freely talk to someone without them knowing him.

Too busy with his thoughts and the amber liquid in the glass before him, he didn’t notice someone had slid in the seat beside him at the bar until the stranger spoke.

“Baek, stop calling me.” The exhaustion in the stranger's voice was so visible that Xiumin turned his head to watch the young man who had slid beside him.

The man continued talking on his phone, a green folder placed on the bar in front of him. His blonde hair stood up in every direction as if the younger man had run his hand through it.“I’m fine, I just need a few hours to myself. Don’t worry, I’ll go home safely.” He was quiet for a second before he sighed, his shoulders slumping. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” 

The man sighed again rubbing his hand over his face and ended the call, placing his phone on top of the green folder before dropping his head on the table.

Xiumin took another sip of his drink, almost tempted to empty the whole glass before he spoke to the man next to him.

“Rough night?”

His voice seemed to make the man sitting next to him snap out of whatever thought he was in because he instantly turned to look at him, his dark eyes a little wide. “Sorry, w-what?” 

Xiumin swallowed the urge to smile at the man, scooting towards him a little so he could be heard. “I asked whether you were having a rough night or not.”

The man’s dark eyes ran over him, clearly searching for a reason or a clue to why Xiumin was asking him the question. He seemed to be on edge, his shoulders stiff and his spine straight. Xiumin could practically see the tension in the man’s body. His eyes were lined with red, clear evidence of either exhaustion or tears, probably both in the man’s case. Xiumin found the tiredness and restlessness that seemed to have sat in his bone for the entire day disappearing when he looked at the other man. It was clear that he was having a bad day and call it an act of kindness but Xiumin really wanted to help.

The man looked at the green folder before looking up Xiumin with an uneasy smile. “Is it that obvious?”

Xiumin chuckled lightly and shook his head. “Not really. I only noticed because I was probably around the same area yesterday.”

Curiosity flashed in the man’s brown eyes as he studied Xiumin again. “Is your job sucking the soul out of you too?”

Xiumin offered the man a wide grin, in a way, trying to make him feel more comfortable. “Oh, you have no idea.”

Mirroring Xiumin’s grin but much softer, the man reached forward, holding out his hand. “Chen, nice to meet you.”

Xiumin almost coos at how cute he looked but instead, he reaches for Chen’s hand, grasping it in his own and giving it a squeeze. “You can call me Xiumin but hyung works as well.”

Chen’s brows rose as he eyed the dark-haired man. “You don’t even know my age, why do you assume that you’re the hyung?”

Xiumin emptied his glass before motioning for the bartender. “Because I’m buying you a drink.”

Chen made a face at Xiumin’s excuse, his face looking a bit more relaxed than when he came in. “That’s honestly the worst excuse I’ve ever heard and I have a friend who’s known for bad excuses.”

Xiumin was glad that the younger man next to him was feeling a little more relaxed even when he was making a face at him.

“Hey now, you’re just being a brat when your hyung’s trying to buy you a drink,” Xiumin said with a teasing grin.

Chen threw his hand up in the air, a small smile on his lips. “You don’t even look like my hyung. You look fucking twelve with that baby face of yours.”

Xiumin grinned at him, relieved by the small smile. The man did look good smiling even if it was a small one.

“No but honestly,” Chen leaned a little closer to Xiumin to make sure that he was heard over the music. “How old are you? Cause you look like you don’t belong in here.”

Xiumin’s eyes narrowed at that comment. It wasn’t the first time someone had assumed he wasn’t young enough to be in a club. People just assumed he wasn’t young enough to be in the bar due to how young he looked, that was until he got out his id and people saw he old he actually was. 

“That was plain rude. Maybe I should ask that gentleman over there if he wants a drink instead.” He pointed at the man sitting a few feet away from them, minding his own business.

Chen rolled his eyes and turned away from Xiumin, raising his hand so the bartender would notice him. Glancing at the man beside him, he grinned. “I think it's your turn to call me hyung.”

“Fucking brat,” Xiumin muttered, smiling. Maybe he didn’t have to spend that night all alone.

 

 

 

*******

 

 

They spent the rest of the night in that small bar, talking about everything and anything they could possibly think of. Alcohol warmed its way through their bodies, making them much louder than they were while sober. They had reached the point where their conversation didn’t really matter anymore, they laughed at whatever came out of their mouths. 

Chen threw his head back, his blonde hair a bigger mess than what Xiumin had seen him with but it suited him. His face was flushed, his cheeks reddening as he laughed at Xiumin’s horrible try at a pun. 

Xiumin couldn’t help but stare at the other man more and more as the time went past by. Little glances built up to long stares that he wasn’t ashamed of by the time midnight got around. Chen was attractive, Xiumin wasn’t going to lie but it wasn’t his looks that were drawing him in. Maybe it was because they were both way too drunk to care or maybe because their personalities clicked together but Xiumin found it incredibly easy to talk to Chen.

The other man’s smile was blinding in the dimly lit bar, brightening up the atmosphere around them like a candle in the dark. The darkness that was drowning the two of them when they had arrived at the bar was fading away, little by little, drink by drink, smile by smile. 

Xiumin reached for another shot of Tequila, throwing it back, he let the bitter taste of the liquor burn his throat as it went down. That was probably his twentieth shot of the night but he really didn’t care; he was used to the feeling of being numb so he used other substances like alcohol to fill himself. Not that he needed alcohol tonight, talking to Chen was putting the edge of the loneliness and the emptiness away but it just made him feel lighter. 

“Whoop! Whoop!” Chen cheered when Xiumin slammed his glass down on the bar, a satisfied smile on his face.

Xiumin smiled at the other man’s loudness and leaned towards him, resting his hand on the bar in front of them. “Your turn.” He motioned for the bartender to come over, pointing at the empty shots in front of them.

As the bartender refilled their shots, Xiumin took his time studying the man sitting next to him. Chen’s attractiveness wasn’t obvious enough to stop people in their tracks when they looked at him. The dark circles under his eyes and the pale tint to his skin made him look like a typical person, running through every day, trying to get their lives together. But the more he looked at the man, the more handsome he became in Xiumin’s eyes. Chen had rough beauty to him, something someone had to look longer than ten seconds to find. He was still beautiful to Xiumin, his face both soft and angular enough to have to have the other man itching to reach forward and cup it. 

And maybe kiss him, if possible.

Shaking his head bit to get the thought of kissing the other man out of his head, Xiumin licked his lips and looked away, focusing on the bartender instead. He wasn’t bad looking and he had dropped enough hints between the drinks he served them for Xiumin to know that he was interested in a hookup. Any other night, he would be interested as well but he but tonight he wanted to spend his every waking moment with Chen until he barely could keep his eyes open.

“What’s the time?” Xiumin heard Chen slur beside him.

XIumin glanced at the watch on his wrist before replying to Chen. “It’s 1:20.”

“Oh shit, I have work tomorrow.” Chen sat up straight, swayed to the right and almost managed to topple over if it wasn’t for XIumin’s quick reflexes.

Xiumin held the younger man against his chest, one hand holding onto his shoulder to make sure that he wouldn’t fall again while the other one reached for his wallet in his pocket.

“Do you even have work tomorrow?” He asked the younger man softly.

Chen hummed against his chest, taking a few seconds before lifting his head and replying. “What day is it today?”

Xiumin chuckled softly, looking at the younger man fondly. “Today’s Friday and I doubt you have work tomorrow but it’s late so I’ll take you home.”

Chen nodded softly before closing his eyes and leaning against Xiumin. “I don’t know if I have work tomorrow,” he mumbled softly. “It doesn’t matter cause I don’t want to go to work.”

“Why is that?” Xuimin placed few bills on the bar before returning his attention to the young man in his arms. 

“I think I pissed off my boss.” 

Xuimin chuckled softly at how cute the younger man looked. His blond hair seemed very fluffy and Xiumin was half tempted to run his hand through it to see if it was as soft as it seemed. He wasn’t what he usually went for in men but Xiumin found it harder and harder not to be attracted to him. There was something about him that made the older man want to get to know him rather than throw him on a bed and have his way with him like he did with most of his one night stands.

He wanted to get to know that man who was in his arms, nuzzling his face against his chest, too drunk to fully know what he was doing. 

For the first time in months, he felt like he wasn’t alone and he wanted to feel like that again. He wanted to spend more nights drinking with the man in his arms; he wanted to spend more nights with him until he couldn’t remember what loneliness felt like.

“I doubt he’s that mad at you that you might not go to work because of it,” he told Chen softly.

Chen mumbled something but Xiumin could barely hear him over the music. 

“Alright, let’s get you out of here. You look like you’re about to pass out any second.”

Chen made a noise in disagreement.“I bet I’m less drunk than you.”

Xiumin smiled in amusement before hauling Chen against him. “Do you think you can stand up?”

The younger man nodded softly before attempting to stand up. It took him a few tries before he could stand, his legs seemed too weak to support his body so he leaned his weight against Xiumin, letting the older man walk the two of them out of the bar. 

The two of them walked in silence as they made their way to the parking lot right next to the bar. The midnight breeze was cool against their skin, yet they weren't cold with how much alcohol they had in their system.

After a few more seconds of silence, Chen quietly spoke. "Where are we going?"

Xiumin's arm tightened around him. "To my car."

The younger man nodded at that as if it made sense to him before asking another question. "Aren't you drunk?"

Chucking at Chen's mumbled words, the older man led him to where his car was parked. "Honestly, not really. I can handle my alcohol better than you can."

"Not true," the younger whined as Xiumin opened the passenger door for him, helping him get into the car. 

Once he made sure Chen was strapped in, he closed the door and made his way around the car and got in. Sighing, he looked over to who Chen was obviously trying not to fall asleep. 

"Can you give me your address?" 

Chen's eyes blinked open as he tried to understand what the older man was saying. "... my what?"

Xiumin chuckled again, both amused and fond at how cute Chen was acting. "Your address. Can you tell me the address to where you live?"

Chen narrowed his eyes at him, crossing his arm across his chest and turning his body away from him. "Why do you want to know my address?"

While most people would have gotten annoyed at how whiny Chen got when he was drunk, Xiumin seemed to enjoy it. "So I can take you home."

"Oh," the younger man mumbled before relaxing in his seat. "My apartment is that way," he pointed to the right.

Sighing, Xiumin rubbed his forehead. Okay, maybe he was getting a little irritated by how the younger man was acting but it wasn't something he couldn't handle. He dealt with Yixing's ass on daily bases and Chen was nowhere as annoying as him.

"That way, do you know the name of your street?"

Chen hummed, blinking several times to keep his eyes open. "My apartment is right after the park..."

Xiumin watched as the younger man drifted off, his eyes closing as he fell asleep.

Well, at least he tried.

He stated the car, deciding that he was going to take the younger man to his apartment rather than drop him off. Knowing how drunk he was, there was a possibility that he was going to end up getting hurt if he was left on his own. This way, Xiumin could both look after him and spend more time with him.

God, he was whipped. 

Taemin and Kai would laugh their asses off if they ever found out about this. Not that Xiumin really cared but he wasn't the type of person who would be whipped for anyone, it was usually the other way around. It's good to know that the tables have changed.

And with that, he started driving home, taking the young man along with him.

 

 

 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys!! So sorry for not writing this chapter sooner. School has started for me so I got caught up in my courses. My midterms just finished So I decided to write this chapter. 
> 
> I promise that I'm going to post the next chapter very soon.
> 
> Please leave some comments! It makes me happier to know what you guys think of the whole story so far.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chen**

  
  


There was something warm stuck to his back, probably a blanket or pillow since he usually had a few of those in his bed since his apartment got exceptionally cold whenever fall arrived. 

Or maybe it was Baekhyun who probably chose to ignore Chen’s pleas about leaving him alone and let himself in with the key Chen had given him sometime around last year.

Oh, what a mistake he had made.

Groaning at the bright light that shone straight into his face, Chen turned onto his back, cursing himself for not closing his blinds last night when he got home. His mouth was dry and it probably smelled like death. A pounding headache had him flinching as he tried burrowing into the body next to him.

Sniffing into Baekhyun’s neck, he frowned at the sharp scent of cologne that hit him. Definitely not something the younger man would wear but maybe he was trying something new. He often smelled like obnoxious cotton candy.

Chen buried his face in the crook of Baekhyun’s neck before relaxing again. Letting the sleep take over his brain yet again. 

As he was about to doze off again, a phone started ringing somewhere in the room close to them. Groaning again, Chen tried to ignore the sound and tightened his arms around the younger man’s body. Sleep was right around the edge and he wanted to reach it, he needed to reach it because his head hurt so much that he didn’t want to remain awake. Closing his eyes again, he tried returning back to sleep but after a few more rings of the phone, he gave up.

Not lifting his head up from the pillow, Chen nudged Baekhyun with his foot, attempting to wake the younger man up. “Baek, come on. You need to wake up, your phone's ringing.”

When his annoying, clingy best friend didn’t answer, Chen opened his eyes ready to tickle the man before something caught his eyes. The sheets wrapped around him were black and silky, something Chen knew he would never end up owning in his entire life. 

What the hell?

Did Baekhyun change the sheets or something?

Blinking the sleep away, he sat up, the silk sheets falling onto his waist, revealing his bare chest. Looking down at his bare chest, Chen definitely knew something was wrong. While he knew Baekhyun for more than five years now, the two of them had managed to set up boundaries that the two of them never crossed; like sleeping shirtless or naked when they were on the same bed. Sure, Baekhyun loved to cuddle more than he loved having sex and Chen usually obliged when the younger initiated cuddles but there hadn’t been once in the entire five, miserable years that Chen was stuck with Baekhyun had the two of sleep in the same bed, shirtless.

Just when he had gotten used the quiet, the phone started ringing again, making Chen flinch as the sound cut sharply through the room. His head throbbed, the headache almost making him nauseous. Blinking again, Chen tried to focus so he could find the phone but his eyes were too blurry, too dry to focus on something.  

That was we he got for drinking to the point he couldn’t remember. Usually, due to his duties, he wouldn’t drink that much, completely aware that his body couldn’t handle more than a few shots of tequila even if he wanted to. 

Then why did he drink that much? 

What happened yesterday that made him drink to the point?

Yesterday… yesterday…

Shit.

Chen groaned as he slowly began remembering the events of yesterday. The meeting that they were waiting a week for. He started remembering everything that happened. The feeling of anxiety and helplessness that washed over him when the chief revealed who was going undercover. The tightness in his chest when he saw his picture in the file when he found out that he was going to do something that he had never done before.

Fuck.

Now he understood why he got so drunk last night. But none of that explained why he wasn’t in his own apartment.

Slowly getting off the bed,  he looked down and winced. His pants were gone too, the only article of clothing remaining on him was the pair of boxers he wore that day. In somewhat state of panic, he began looking for where ringing was coming from. Scanning the room, he found a pile of clothes near the door which made his breath catch.

Did they… did something happen last night that he couldn’t remember?

He tried wiggling his butt a little and from the lack of pain that came with it, he realized that nothing probably happened. Chen wasn’t into topping for others, it made him feel insecure and he didn’t have the confidence that came with him. He didn’t have it in him to demand things so in the rare times he managed to sneak off to Itaewon and go home with someone, he would only bottom, not caring if people were too rough with him.

Making his way to the pile of clothes, he began searching for his phone which kept ringing nonstop. Discovering the phone in the pocket of his jeans, he quickly silenced, cutting off the sound. 

Bring the phone to his ear, he hissed a ‘hello’.

“Where are you?” Baekhyun’s voice rang out.

Chen looked around the room, spotting the floor to ceiling window and walking to it. “Why?”

“Cause I’m at your apartment and your not there. I brought breakfast with me, thinking you might need it after last night. So, where are you?”

Chen glanced down at the city, trying to tell where exactly he was from the buildings around him. “I don’t know.”

There was a minute of silence before Baekhyun shrieked. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

Wincing, Chen rubbed at his temple, trying to somehow make his migraine better. “As in I have no clue where I am. I went to the bar you introduced me a few months ago-”

“Oasis,” Baekhyun interrupted him.

“Yes,” he growled out into the phone, shutting Baekhyun up. “I met this dude and he offered to buy me a drink and we got drunk from what I remember. I think I’m at his apartment, or maybe I went home with someone else, not really sure at this moment,” he rambled.

“So you got a good dicking?” The smile in his voice irritated Chen.

Sighing, he turned around, his eyes falling on the male who seemed to be asleep on his side, his face buried in the pillow under his head. “Can we not talk about it? I have bigger problems than figuring out who I slept with last night.”

Baekhyun hummed on the other line. “That’s very true but it’s better to find out just to make sure everything was… you know… consensual.”

  
  


Chen blinked at Baekhyun’s comment, his eyes on the mysterious man on the bed. “You’re not suggesting that I was raped or anything, are you?”

“Well, I don’t know. Do you think you might’ve been? How much did you drink even?”

Chen tried thinking back to the night before but he only could remember bits and pieces. He remembered drinking with the man he had met at the bar yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember his name. 

“I don’t think anything happened between us last night, I can’t feel anything.” He mumbled into the phone as he leaned back against the window, his eyes closing.

“Well, that’s good,” Baekhyun replied. “Now can you stop acting like a dumbass and check your GPS. You act like you’re stranded on an island without access to the internet. Stop being an idiot and come back, the food’s getting cold.”

Chen grinned at his best friend’s words. “I don’t even know why I’m still friends with your flat ass. All you’ve done since we became friends is to insult me. I think we need to break up.”

Baekhyun gasped on the other side, being the dramatic little shit that he is. “How dare you call my ass flat?! Have you ever seen my ass in jeans, they look edible. Fuck you Kim Jongdae, go back to sucking the mystery man’s dick, I hope you choke on it!”

Chen chuckled, his body shaking as Baekhyun continued to yell into the phone. “I gotta go, Baek. And for your information, I wasn’t sucking his dick.”

“Did you want to?” Baekhyun teased, his voice high pitched.

Oh, what an asshole.

“How about you mind your own business and I find my way around here.” And with that, he hung up, knowing he was going to get his ass beat when he got home but not caring about it. 

His headache was still there, pounding like it was trying to get out of his head. All he wanted to do was to get back into the bed with the stranger and sleep the headache off but knowing his best friend, Baekhyun would have the whole Seoul Police department on his ass if he didn’t get to his apartment soon.

Checking his location on his phone, Chen let out a long groan when he found out that he was currently in Gangnam.

Of course he would get drunk to the point that he forgot half the things he had last night and somehow had managed to wake up and find himself in bed with a naked man in Gangnam. His life sounded like a plot of one of those dramas Baekhyun liked on watch in his free time.

That’s it, he was never drinking again. 

It was going to take him ages to get back to his apartment.

Glancing at the bed again, Chen did a double take when he found the other man awake and watching him. His cat eyes were blinking softly at him as if he couldn’t believe that Chen was still in his apartment. He didn’t look surprised though which confused Chen even more. He looked like he remembered what happened last night and would likely tell him the truth if he asked about what happened when Chen got extremely drunk. 

Fuck, there went his plan of quietly sneaking out of the apartment without going through the walk of shame.

If he wasn’t as hungover as he was at the moment, he would be panicking his ass off but at the moment he really didn’t care. 

“Morning...,” he called out softly to the older man, not moving from where he was leaning against the window, his phone clutched tightly in hand.

“I’m surprised you haven’t run away yet.” Sleep colored the man’s voice, making it rough sounding. His black hair was messy and soft looking, making the man look younger than he probably was. Chen’s eyes ran over his body involuntary, taking in the older man’s half-naked body sprawled on the bed. The silk sheets covered up to his waist, leaving his upper body bare. From what Chen remembered last night, the other man was the same height and the same build as he was but as he took in the sight before him, Chen realized how wrong he was. Where Chen had some muscles, he tended to lean more towards being slim; however, the other man was built differently than him. Chen could probably spend hours looking at his muscles and his toned stomach if given the chance. 

Fuck, he was screwed.

“You know, you can touch it if you want. I’m not complaining or anything,” the older man drawled lazily, watching Chen in amusement as the younger man flushed deeply.

Choking on a breath, Chen coughed to cover it up, turning around to hide his red face from the elder. The fact that he was turned on by how the older man looked didn’t really help him as he felt his cock hardening in his boxers. 

Yes, all he needed now was an erection as he tried to find a way out of the apartment. Busying himself with pulling his clothes back on just so he could avoid looking at the older man. As Chen buckled his jean back up, he heard the sheets rustling behind him. 

“You don’t have to leave, I can order breakfast for us then I can have my driver drop you off at your apartment.”

Chen stopped buttoning his shirt when he heard the offer. He had no idea why the stranger was being nice to him after he woke up to Chen still in his apartment after what might've been a drunken one night stand. Most people usually wanted the other person out of their house by the time morning arrived yet the older man seemed like he wanted Chen to take the offer and stay. It was rather suspicious and Chen didn’t know what to think about it.

Glancing back at the bed where the older man had moved back to sit up, resting his back against the headboard as he watched Chen get dressed. He hadn’t bothered to pull the sheets back up to cover the rest of his body and Chen couldn't have been more glad about it.

Great, he was turning into Baekhyun.

“I-I really think I should go home,” he mumbled out as his eyes met the elder's eyes. “I don’t really know what happened last night, we drank too much and we fooled around but I would really appreciate it if you could forget it about all of it.” Chen wasn’t usually this shy around people but as the older man held eye contact with him, he found himself wanting to hide away. 

The other man tilted his head, his mouth pulling into a soft frown, his eyes slightly narrowed. “I think you have it wrong, nothing happened between us last night. We drank together, you drank more than you could possibly handle,” he rolled his eyes with a small smile. “But nothing else happened between us.”

Swallowing, Chen waved his hand towards the older man’s half-naked body. “Then why were the two of us naked in bed together? Why am I even in your apartment to begin with? I don’t even know your name yet I’ve seen you almost naked.”

Grinning at Chen’s sudden flush, the older man finally moved the black sheets up to cover his waist and half his chest. “First of all, I’m Xiumin seeming as you don’t remember and second of all, you’re here because I couldn’t get your address out of you to drive you home last night and I didn’t want to be riddled with guilt if you ended up choking on your own vomit if I left you alone last night, so I brought you to my apartment. And this,” he motioned to himself as his smile widened when Chen’s flush deepened. “Is because I can’t sleep if I’m wearing anything. I don’t know about you though, you just started stripping when I brought you in here to sleep.”  

Mortified at the sudden realization, Chen grabbed his jacket from where it was lying on the carpet and ran out of the room as quick as he could to get away from the shame and the embarrassment that followed with what the older man- Xiumin had just told him. 

“I can’t believe how embarrassed you are over this, it’s not really a big deal,” Xiumin called out after him as Chen ran down the corridor and into what looked like might be the living room.

The apartment was unnecessarily large as he quickly tried to find his escape path. He didn’t remember anything from what Xiumin had told him last night about what he did for a living but from the looks of the apartment, he was probably someone who had a lot of money on his hands. 

Finally spotting the elevator which was his only way out of the apartment, Chen pushed the button and prayed the doors would open as soon as possible. Looking back behind him, he didn’t know whether to be relieved or saddened by the fact that Xiumin hadn’t followed him out of the bedroom. There was a part of him that hoped that the older man would follow him out and convince him to stay but as the elevator dinged and the steel doors opened, Chen was disappointed to find that Xiumin hadn’t.

Stepping in, he pressed the button for the ground floor and leaned back against the wall, a sigh leaving him and his body as his eyes ran over the empty apartment.

Just as the doors started closing, Xiumin finally appeared, his eyes on Chen as he walked through the living room to get to him. But before he could reach him, the doors closed and the disappointment spread through Chen’s body, leaving him emptier than he had felt in a while. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!!
> 
> I'm so sorry for not posting sooner, I know I promised you guys that I would post sooner but I was unable to. My finals just ended around a week and a half ago and I was so mentally tired that I couldn't write anything. I got some rest and started writing again so here's the fourth chapter.
> 
> Thank you for patiently waiting for me to upload. I promise that I'm going to be posting more from now on.
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment. Remember that comments keep an author alive!
> 
> -Axa

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know what this is supposed to be but let's see where it ends up going.   
> Little edits might come in later.   
> I'm open for suggestions.  
> Thank you!!!
> 
> -AXA


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